COL. JOHN CRAIG.  With the history of the Lehigh Valley no family has been more intimately associated than that which is worthily represented by the subject of this sketch.  The first of the name in this country emigrated hither from Ireland about the close of the seventeenth century and settled in Philadelphia.  Thence in 1728 Col. Thomas Craig removed to Northampton County and settled in what was afterward known as Craig's or the Irish Settlement.  This tract of land was owned by William Penn, after whose death it came into the possession of his son, Thomas.

  The name of Col. Thomas Craig appears upon the roll of the Synod of Philadelphia for the first time in 1731, and by it we learn that he occupied the office of Elder.  As it was in the year 1731 that the Presbyterian Church was organized in the settlement, it may therefore be supposed that he was the original Elder.  His son, Thomas, was but a lad when his father came to this place.  During his boyhood years he assisted in clearing the land and tilling the soil, and after attaining manhood he engaged in farming for himself.

  The next in line of descent was Thomas Craig, who was born in 1740.  At the breaking out of the Pennamite War, in 1771, he was made a Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania militia, and his record was that of a gallant and faithful officer.  At the opening of the Revolutionary War he was an active champion of the Colonies, and on the 5^th of January, 1776, was commissioned Captain, being assigned to Colonel St. Clair's Pennsylvania Battalion.  After several engagements in the Canadian campaign he was promoted to the rank of Major in September, 1776, and in the summer of the following year became Colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment.  Under command of General Washington he did good service in New Jersey, and subsequently took part in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.

  Mrs. Lydia Darrach, of Philadelphia, at whose house General Howe made his headquarters, secretly learning of the General's intended attack on Washington's army, then in camp at White Marsh, fourteen miles from the city, conveyed the information through Colonel Craig, so that the colonial army was saved from a surprise and deadly attack.  Colonel Craig remained with the army at Valley Forge, and from that place, April 12, 1778, addressed a letter strongly appealing for clothing for soldiers and showing their destitute condition in that respect.  In the battle of Monmouth his regiment was conspicuous for gallantry and was in the thickest of the fight.

  At the close of the war Colonel Craig returned to Northampton County, of which he was appointed Lieutenant in July, 1783.  In 1784 Montgomery County was formed from Philadelphia, and he was appointed Associate Judge, Clerk of the Courts, and Recorder, all of which positions he held until 1789.  He then settled in the vicinity of Stembersville, in Towamensing Township (at that time in Northampton, now in Carbon County).  For several years he was Major-General of the Seventh Division Pennsylvania Militia.  His death occurred in 1832, at the age of ninety-two years.  It is said of him that he possessed superior qualities of head and heart, being keen in discrimination, sagacious, brave in danger, quick to conceive and prompt to execute-a man fitted to lead an army against a powerful foe.

  In the family of the above-named gentleman the second child was Thomas, father of our subject.  He was born in Stembersville in 1796, and in youth received such educational advantages as the neighborhood afforded.  For many years he engaged as a hotel keeper, and also conducted a general farming and lumbering business at Lehigh Gap.  In 1828 he was Captain of the home militia light horse or cavalry.  Thomas Craig was first married to Miss Kuntz, by whom he had one son, Thomas.  His second wife was Catherine, daughter of John Hagenback, then proprietor of a hotel at Lehighton.  They became the parents of six children, to whom they gave the benefit of wise home training and good educational advantages.  Thomas, now deceased, represented his district four years in the House of Representatives and three years in the Senate.  Eliza is the wife of Gen. Charles Heckman, an officer in the Mexican and Civil Wars, now residing in Germantown, Pa.  Hon. Allen Craig, for many years a leading attorney of Mauch Chunk, is now serving as District Judge.  William resides in Nebraska.  Robert is a graduate of West Point Military Academy, and is now a Captain in the regular army stationed at Washington, D. C.

  The subject of this sketch is the next to the eldest in the family circle, and was born in Carbon County, Pa., October 23, 1831.  In boyhood he attended the schools of the district, and in 1850 went to Easton, Pa., where his education was completed at the private school conducted by Rev. John Vanderveer.  After the death of his father, in 1858, he gave some time to settlement of the estate, and also continued the management of the business conducted by this father.  When the Civil War broke out, he was one of the first volunteers in the defense of the Government.  In April of 1861 he was enrolled for three months' service in the Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and with his regiment he took part in the military operations in Virginia and Maryland.

  August 30, 1861, our subject enlisted in Company N, Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, which was afterward merged into Company C, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Pennsylvania Infantry.  Among the engagements in which he participated were those of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Chattanooga, and the various skirmished from Atlanta to the sea under General Sherman, including the battle of Peach Tree Creek.  Enlisting as a Captain, he was promoted successively to the rank of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel.  He participated in the Grand Review in Washington, and was honorably discharged in July, 1865.

  Resuming the life of a civilian, Colonel Craig formed a partnership with his brother in the general mercantile business, the firm title being J. & W. Craig.  As such they conducted business at Lehigh Gap until the year 1882, since which time the colonel has been sole proprietor.  In addition to this establishment he also deals in coal and handles lumber and fertilizers.  In 1866-67 he contracted for and built four and a-half miles of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, which was in course of construction at that time.  Since the organization of the National Bank of Slatington, in 1875, he has been one of its Directors.  He has been President of the Carbon Metallic Paint Company since 1880.  For five years or more he served as School Director, for many years has been Postmaster of Lehigh Gap, and for two years, from 1884 to 1886, represented his district in the Lower House of the State Legislature.  Politically he is a Democrat.  Socially he belongs to the Loyal Legion of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and Chapman Post No. 61, G. A. R. at Mauch Chunk.

  In the fall of 1866 Colonel Craig married Miss Emma, daughter of Philip and Henrietta Insley, who lived upon a farm at the Irish settlement near Bath, Northampton County.  They are the parents of eight children, as follows:  Thomas, Charles, P. Insley, H. Tindale; Henrietta, wife of T. Griffin; Mary, Allen D. and John D. (deceased).  In social circles the family is highly respected.  Every measure which has in view the promoting of the welfare of the citizens and the interests of the county finds in Colonel Craig a hearty supporter.  He has a well balanced mind, is sensible and shrewd, and fairness and justice characterize all his business transactions.  A man of probity and honor, his life has been characterized by the desire to promote the welfare of his fellow-man, as well as his own personal advancement.